The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 8

"A Woman Possessed!"

Cover Date: February 1993; Publication Date: December 1992

Writer: Gary Friedrich; Artist: Tom Sutton; Inker: Syd Shores; Letterer: John Costanza; Colorist: George Roussos; Editor: Roy Thomas; Cover Artist: Mike Ploog

 

Following his encounter with Linda Littletrees, the Witch Woman, Blaze races back toward the hospital where he left Roxanne. He encounters a police barricade, which he breaks through easily. Immediately afterwards, however, one of the officers shoots him in the shoulder, causing him to wipe out on his bike.

 

Meanwhile, Linda has fallen into a strange coma. Her fiancé, Sam Silvercloud, and father, the man once called Snake Dance, are unable to wake her up, realizing that her soul has been stolen by Satan. Sam, unwilling to let his loved one die, dials a number out of a newspaper. The number is for an occult exorcist named Daimon Hellstrom, who agrees to fly to Arizona immediately to help Linda.

Back at the hospital, Johnny's road manager, Bart Slade, tells Roxanne that he plans to make the jump over the canyon in Blaze's stead. Elsewhere, Linda is approached by Satan, who takes possession of her body and flees toward the city in search of Blaze.

 

Night falls, prompting the hospitalized Johnny to transform into the Ghost Rider. With his injuries surprisingly healed in his demon form, Blaze escapes from the hospital and heads for the canyon. He arrives just in time to see Slade attempt the jump, unable to do nothing but watch as his friend crashes into the canyon wall. Blaze hurriedly scoops up the fainted Roxanne, and the two escape in a pickup truck. Back at the reservation, Hellstrom arrives to help Linda.

 

"Who is the Phantom Rider?, Part 1"

Writer: Dan Slott; Artist: Dick Ayers; Letterer: Dave Sharpe; Colorist: Mike Worley; Editor: Evan Skolnick

Phantom Rider uses his cloak to vanish and escape. Sheriff Brown examines Angus O'Donnel's corpse and finds evidence that Phantom Rider is a man and not an actual specter. Phantom Rider goes to the church and tells Father Fulton that he accidentally killed a man and can no longer be the Phantom Rider.

The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 7

"Season of the Witch-Woman!"

Cover Date: January 1993; Publication Date: November 1992

Writer: Gary Friedrich; Artist: Tom Sutton; Inker: Syd Shores; Letterer: John Costanza; Colorist: Glynis Wein; Editor: Roy Thomas; Cover Artist: Jeff Johnson

In the abandoned cave ruins, Linda Littletrees, now going by the moniker of Witch Woman, holds the Ghost Rider captive. Binding him to the wall with flaming shackles, the Apache girl tells Johnny that she has been sent by Satan to collect his soul. Using her satanic powers, Linda projects her thoughts onto the cave wall, showing Blaze how she became Satan's thrall.

Less than a year before, she left her family's reservation to attend college in New York City. When she arrived, she met her roommate, a blonde girl named Jennifer Glatzer, who was a practicing devil-worshiper. Linda immediately became friends with the other girl, who eventually convinced the Indian to read some of her occult books. After about six months, Linda fell asleep on her bed while studying. While she slept, Jennifer entered the room, her satanic candle lit. She opens the window and calls for her master, offering Linda as a bride. When she receives no sign of Satan's arrival, Jennifer assumes that he has rejected her gift. When she looks at Linda, however, she sees the pentagram emblazoned on her forehead, a sign of acceptance. Johnny interrupts Linda's story, arguing with her that she was unwillingly duped into satanic servitude. Denying his accusations, the Witch Woman conjures a gag of hellfire around Blaze's mouth, so she can continue her story without further interjections.

The night after Jennifer's secret offering, Linda decides that she will join her roommate for one of her group's rituals. The two dress in exotic outfits and then cover up in large robes, so as not to draw attention to themselves on the way to the sabbat. Jennifer assures Linda that it's all pretend, easing her nervousness. They arrive at a large house and descend into the crypt-like basement, where Linda is shocked to see dozens of women with flaming torches surrounding a large altar. Jennifer and the other women surround the frightened girl and drag her to the altar, tying her down as they chant. Jennifer calls out for her master to appear, pulling out a large knife in the process. As the girls continued to chant louder and louder, Jennifer plunged the knife into Linda's stomach, but the girl felt nothing but the essence of Satan pouring into her.

Linda becomes wrapped up telling her story, breaking the concentration needed to maintain the Ghost Rider's bonds. Realizing he has his chance to escape, Johnny runs from the cave and hops on his motorcycle, his escape finally snapping his enemy back to reality. She fires several bolts of hellfire at the Rider as he navigates his way down the narrow trails of the pueblo. As he makes his escape, Satan appears before Linda, claiming that she has failed in her task. Linda pleads for a second chance, which the demon begrudgingly gives her. Having made his way to the bottom of the caves, Johnny turns back to see the Witch Woman standing at the top of the pueblo. She tells him that because she has failed in her mission, she must now pay the price. Turning her blasts of hellfire back on herself, Linda lights herself afire and falls to the canyon floor. Johnny turns away, unable to watch the girl's death. He rides away just as the sun comes up, transforming him back to his normal self.

"The Hangin' of Angus O'Donnel!, Part 2"

Writer: Dan Slott; Artist: Dick Ayers; Letterer: Dick Ayers; Colorist: Mike Worley; Editor: Evan Skolnick 

Floyd and Red free Angus from his execution, but as they escape Phantom Rider follows and terrifies them. Sheriff Brown, his deputy Hollis, Jamie Jacobs, and William leave to follow Angus but are surprised to find Phantom Rider has hung Angus. Sheriff Brown vows to bring Phantom Rider to justice.

The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 6

"The Coming of...Witch-Woman!"

Cover Date: December 1992; On Sale Date: October 1992

Writer: Gary Friedrich; Artist: Tom Sutton; Inker: Jim Mooney; Letterer: John Costanza; Colorist: Stan Goldberg; Editor: Roy Thomas; Cover Artist: Mark Pacella

The Ghost Rider races through the Arizona desert with the comatose Roxanne Simpson in his arms, desperate to get her to a hospital before the snake venom in her system kills her. Back at the Apache reservation, Snake Dance's followers turn against him, finally realizing that he's nothing but a charlatan. Sam Silvercloud strings the old medicine man up to a tree, preparing to hang him, but the men are stopped by several rifle shots. They turn to see a young woman, Linda Littletrees, Snake Dance's daughter returned from college. Linda unties her father and convinces all the men to return to the reservation.

Meanwhile, Blaze races through the nearest city, the welfare of his girlfriend the only thing concerning him. He roars through the emergency room doors of the local hospital and demands a doctor to save Roxanne. After a little persuasion of the hellfire variety, the doctor agrees to help. After a quick examination, however, the doctor tells Johnny that she will still die, because the hospital has run out of snake bite serum. Back at the reservation, Linda is appalled that her father almost killed a girl because of superstitions. Snake Dance assures his daughter that Roxanne WILL die, because he knows the white men have no serum. He shows that he has the only vial of the serum, but accidentally allows Linda to take it from him. The young girl runs out the door and hops on her motorcycle, praying to an unseen "master" that she reaches Roxanne in time.

At the hospital, the doctor tells Blaze that the only thing they can do is a complete blood transfusion, but it would be very dangerous and she may not live through the procedure. The Ghost Rider tells the doctor to do what he must, and walks out of the hospital. Johnny rides his bike away from the motorcycle, just missing the arrival of Linda with the serum. The police catch sight of the speeding Blaze and follow in pursuit. Linda, meanwhile, gets the serum to the doctor in the nick of time, saving Roxanne's life. The doctor tells Linda the girl's name, and it rings strangely familiar to the Apache.

Johnny is chased by two motorcycle cops, which he tries to stop with a few blasts of hellfire. The cops continue their chase, until Blaze manages to trap them behind a wall of flame. The police radio in an all-points bulletin on the Ghost Rider as he rides away. Elsewhere, Linda recalls why she recognized Roxanne's name. When she was a little girl, she was rescued from being run over by a motorcycle cop named Officer Crash Simpson, who she had heard started a motorcycle show a few years later. She goes back and talks to the doctor, who tells her that Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider, was the one that brought Roxanne to the hospital. Linda, thinking it ironic that the man her master sent her to kill is involved with the daughter of the man that once saved her life, walks outside the hospital in time to see Blaze speed by, several police cars on his tail. Realizing that she must rescue Johnny from the police so she can kill him herself, Linda jumps on her bike and gives chase. She easily passes the police cars, and takes a shortcut to a set of Indian cave ruins. Johnny is surprised when a police helicopter cuts off his escape route, but then a shimmering portal opens in front of him. The next thing Johnny knows, he's standing before the costumed Linda Littletrees, who refers to herself as...the Witch Woman!

"The Hangin' of Angus O'Donnel!, Part 1"

Writer: Dan Slott; Artist: Dick Ayers; Letterer: Dick Ayers; Colorist: Mike Worley; Editor: Evan Skolnick 

Sheriff Brown takes the dead mailman to the undertaker, who gives the sheriff the previous undertaker Cletus' journal. William wakes up in Carter Slade's home; Jamie Jacobs tells him that Phantom Rider asked Carter to watch over him. The two youths go into Bison Bend to witness Angus' hanging, but Floyd and Red shoot the hangman's noose and Angus escapes.

The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 5

"The Snakes Crawl at Night"

Cover Date: November 1992; On Sale Date: September 1992

 

Writer: Gary Friedrich; Artist: Tom Sutton; Inker: Chic Stone; Letterer: Shelly Leferman; Editor: Roy Thomas; Cover Artist: Kevin Maguire

 

After fleeing from the Apache known as Snake Dance by attempting to jump over a gorge, Johnny Blaze finds that his bike has been sabotaged when it explodes in mid-air, leaving him to fall to his death in the canyon. The Ghost Rider hits the rocks at the canyon base, and Snake Dance revels in his triumph, believing Blaze to be dead. Meanwhile, back at the rodeo where Johnny is to perform his cycle act, the foreman comments that Blaze has disappeared. Roxanne believes that he must have ridden out the canyon, so the foreman tells Sam Silvercloud to give her a ride there as well. On the way to the canyon, Silvercloud (the one responsible for sabotaging Johnny's bike) tells Roxanne that the land is rightfully owned by the Apaches, and that they will soon reclaim it from the white man. They arrive at Copperhead Canyon, where Silvercloud tells Roxanne that Blaze is dead. He then kidnaps the young woman and takes her to the nearby Indian reservation.

 

The next morning, the rodeo manager is upset because both Johnny and Roxanne are now nowhere to be found. At that moment, Bart Slade, the cycle show's road manager, enters the room dressed in cycle leathers and says that if Blaze doesn't show, he's more than ready to fill in for him. Hours later, Johnny, now in his human form, awakens on the canyon floor, astonished that he's still alive after the fall. Suddenly, Satan appears before the stunt rider and tells him that he's responsible for Johnny's surviving the crash. He tells Blaze that if he died by the hand of another mortal, he would be unable to capture his soul. Therefore, whenever Blaze's life is in danger, Satan will extend protection over him, until he himself has a chance to take his life. The devil disappears, leaving Johnny alone on the canyon floor. Luckily, a helicopter passes overhead and airlifts Johnny out. Meanwhile, at the Indian reservation, Silvercloud presents Roxanne to Snake Dance, who decides that they shall sacrifice her to the Snake-God as a bride. The witch doctor then returns to his home, where he states to himself that the entire snake ceremony and belief system is a charade, perpetrated to save his people from starvation and poverty.

 

Blaze arrives at the rodeo just in time, barely making it to his dressing room before nightfall triggers his transformation into the Ghost Rider. He runs out to do his act, and is surprised to find Slade ready to do the stunts himself. Because Bart is a cripple with a bum leg, Johnny stops him from doing the act, but only manages to anger his former friend even more. Blaze continues and starts the stunt show, stunning the audience with his cycle mastery. During one stunt, however, he loses his concentration and crashes his bike into a wall. The Ghost Rider emerges unscathed, but quickly spots Sam Silvercloud standing on the sidelines. He chases the saboteur down and forces him to give up Roxanne's location.

 

At the reservation, Snake Dance and his men perform the Snake-God ritual, with Roxanne tied to a serpent-shaped stake. Snake Dance tells her that she must prove herself worthy by enduring deadly snake venom, and that only ones who are chosen by the Snake-God can survive. Two snakes shoot out from the shaman's arms, biting Roxanne on each wrist. Snake Dance, knowing all too well that the venom will kill Roxanne, continues his sham by saying that the gods are angry with the Apaches, and that the only way to appease them is to rise up against the white man as an army. At that moment, the Ghost Rider roars onto the scene, quickly dispatching Snake Dance's followers with his hellfire. He unties Roxanne from the stake, but realizes that he must get her to a hospital before she dies. He turns to the Apaches one last time and tells them that Snake Dance is a charlatan, and that they shall never again threaten innocent people. He rides off on his motorcycle, vowing that if Roxanne dies, he shall return to exact vengeance.

 

"End of the Line, Part 2"

Writer: Dan Slott; Artist: Dick Ayers; Letterer: Dick Ayers; Colorist: Mike Worley; Editor: Evan Skolnick

Phantom Rider uses his ventriloquism to make Angus O'Donnel think the dead mailman is haunting him. Angus shoots the mailman's corpse and Phantom Rider rescues William as the train pulls in to Bison Bend. Sheriff Brown arrests the terrified Angus.

Ghost Rider (1973) # 66

“The Witch in the Whirlwind!”

Cover Date: March 1982
On Sale Date: December 1981

Writer: Michael Fleisher
Artist: Tom Sutton
Colorist: George Roussos
Letterer: Diana Albers
Editor: Tom DeFalco
Editor in Chief: Jim Shooter
Cover Artist: Bob Layton

While shopping at a small-town antique shop, the Quentin Carnival’s wheelchair-bound psychic, Madam Olga, purchases an ornate candle. After Johnny Blaze and Red Fowler drive her back to the carnival, she lights the candle during one of her seances, which releases a ghostly woman. After the crowd flees in fear, the ghost introduces herself as Clothilde, a witch who had been sentenced to death centuries ago and survived by sending her soul into a nearby candle. Clothilde offers to grant favors to Olga for freeing her from the candle and rushes out of the tent to find the old woman a meal. Johnny Blaze sees the wind spirit rushing past and pursues it on his motorcycle to a nearby steakhouse, where it blows inside and exits with a feast of food. Clothilde attacks Blaze, sensing his supernatural power, and he transforms into the Ghost Rider as she flings him through the air. Clothilde returns to Olga and retreats back into the candle, promising to return the next night. Johnny goes to Olga to ask about the wind witch, but she nervously denies knowing anything about it.

The next night, Olga lights the candle and Clothilde returns, using her wind power to make Olga walk again. Johnny goes to Olga’s tent and finds her inside a mystical circle, finishing a spell to free Clothilde from the candle. Clothilde reveals that she was put to death for practicing black magic and wishes only to subjugate and destroy the mortal realm. The Ghost Rider appears and creates his flame cycle as he is swept into the sky above the carnival in a fierce battle with Clothilde. Olga, paralyzed once again and realizing how she had been tricked, destroys the mystic circle, which weakens Clothilde enough to be destroyed by the Ghost Rider’s hellfire.

How fashion forward of you, GR!

CHAIN REACTION
To read my review of Ghost Rider (1973) # 66 see my book Wheels On Fire: An Unofficial Guide to Marvel Comics' Ghost Rider: 1972-1983!

Wheels On Fire: An Unofficial Guide to Marvel Comics' Ghost Rider From 1972-1983: Munn, Chris, Ishizaki, James, DeMatteis, J.M.: 9798702991832: Amazon.com: Books

What If...? (1977) # 28

“What If Ghost Rider Were Separated From Johnny Blaze?”

Cover Date: August 1981
On Sale Date: May 1981

Writer: Michael Fleisher
Artist; Tom Sutton
Letterer: Vic Carey
Colorist: Gaff
Editor: Denny O’Neil
Editor In Chief: Jim Shooter
Cover Artist: Frank Miller

The Watcher presents an alternate reality diverging from Johnny Blaze’s battle with the wizard Azaziah, who had separated Blaze from his demonic self, the Ghost Rider. Johnny fails to destroy the wizard’s crystal of power and is instead knocked unconscious by Azaziah, who then uses a spell to bond himself to the Ghost Rider. Azaziah now has complete control of the Ghost Rider while transformed and his own magical power makes the Ghost Rider even stronger, allowing him to ride across the ocean to another continent in the span of a few hours. Meanwhile, Johnny wakes up and realizes that he has to stop Azaziah, who is headed for the Vatican in Rome.

The Ghost Rider arrives in Vatican City and storms the Vatican, taking the Pope hostage while he prepares a spell that will make him the master of every soul on the planet. Back in the United States, Blaze hijacks a plane and flies to Europe, where thirteen hours later he arrives to find the Vatican sealed off behind a wall of hellfire. Johnny steals a motorcycle and jumps over the wall of fire, but lands badly and injures himself. The Ghost Rider feels the pain in his leg as well and realizes that the bond between him and Blaze still exists. He finds Johnny and takes him inside the Vatican, chaining him to the wall before he transforms back into Azaziah. The Crimson Mage begins his spell and materializes a magical scimitar above the captive Pope, but Johnny is able to free himself and take possession of the sword. Realizing that he has only one way to save the Pope, Johnny stabs the Ghost Rider through the chest, killing Azaziah. However, due to the link between them, the act also costs Johnny his life. He dies, his actions having saved the world.

Ghost Rider (1973) # 1

"A Woman Possessed!"

Cover Date: September 1973

On Sale Date: June 1973

Writer: Gary Friedrich
Artist: Tom Sutton
Inker: Syd Shores
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: George Roussos
Editor: Roy Thomas

Cover Artist: Gil Kane

Following his encounter with Linda Littletrees, the Witch Woman, Blaze races back toward the hospital where he left Roxanne. He encounters a police barricade, which he breaks through easily. Immediately afterwards, however, one of the officers shoots him in the shoulder, causing him to wipe out on his bike.

Meanwhile, Linda has fallen into a strange coma. Her fiancé, Sam Silvercloud, and father, the man once called Snake Dance, are unable to wake her up, realizing that her soul has been stolen by Satan. Sam, unwilling to let his loved one die, dials a number out of a newspaper. The number is for an occult exorcist named Daimon Hellstrom, who agrees to fly to Arizona immediately to help Linda. Back at the hospital, Johnny's road manager, Bart Slade, tells Roxanne that he plans to make the jump over the canyon in Blaze's stead. Elsewhere, Linda is approached by Satan, who takes possession of her body and flees toward the city in search of Blaze.

Night falls, prompting the hospitalized Johnny to transform into the Ghost Rider. With his injuries surprisingly healed in his demon form, Blaze escapes from the hospital and heads for the canyon. He arrives just in time to see Slade attempt the jump, unable to do nothing but watch as his friend crashes into the canyon wall. Blaze hurriedly scoops up the fainted Roxanne, and the two escape in a pickup truck. Back at the reservation, Hellstrom arrives to help Linda.

Marvel Spotlight (1972) # 11

"Season of the Witch-Woman!"

Cover Date: August 1973

On Sale Date: May 1973

Writer: Gary Friedrich
Artist: Tom Sutton
Inker: Syd Shores
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: Glynis Wein
Editor: Roy Thomas

Cover Artist: Rich Buckler

In the abandoned cave ruins, Linda Littletrees, now going by the moniker of Witch Woman, holds the Ghost Rider captive. Binding him to the wall with flaming shackles, the Apache girl tells Johnny that she has been sent by Satan to collect his soul. Using her satanic powers, Linda projects her thoughts onto the cave wall, showing Blaze how she became Satan's thrall.

Less than a year before, she left her family's reservation to attend college in New York City. When she arrived, she met her roommate, a blonde girl named Jennifer Glatzer, who was a practicing devil-worshiper. Linda immediately became friends with the other girl, who eventually convinced the Indian to read some of her occult books. After about six months, Linda fell asleep on her bed while studying. While she slept, Linda crept into the room, her satanic candle lit. She opened the window and called for her master, offering Linda as a bride. When she received no sign of Satan's arrival, Jennifer assumed that he has rejected her gift. When she looked at Linda, however, she saw the pentagram emblazoned on her forehead, a sign of acceptance. Johnny interrupts Linda's story, arguing with her that she was unwillingly duped into satanic servitude. Denying his accusations, the Witch Woman conjures a gag of hellfire around Blaze's mouth, so she can continue her story without further interjections.

The night after Jennifer's secret offering, Linda decided that she would join her roommate for one of her group's rituals. The two dressed in exotic outfits and then covered up in large robes, so as not to draw attention to themselves on the way to the sabbat. Jennifer assured Linda that it's all pretend, easing her nervousness. They arrived  at a large house and descended into the crypt-like basement, where Linda was shocked to see dozens of women with flaming torches surrounding a large altar. Jennifer and the other women surrounded the frightened girl and dragged her to the altar, tying her down as they chanted. Jennifer called out for her master to appear, pulling out a large knife in the process. As the girls continued to chant louder and louder, Jennifer plunged the knife into Linda's stomach, but the girl felt nothing but the essence of Satan pouring into her.

Linda becomes wrapped up in telling her story, breaking the concentration needed to maintain the Ghost Rider's bonds. Realizing he has his chance to escape, Johnny runs from the cave and hops on his motorcycle, his escape finally snapping his enemy back to reality. She fires several bolts of hellfire at the Rider as he navigates his way down the narrow trails of the pueblo. As he makes his escape, Satan appears before Linda, claiming that she has failed in her task. Linda pleads for a second chance, which the demon begrudgingly gives her. Having made his way to the bottom of the caves, Johnny turns back to see the Witch Woman standing at the top of the pueblo. She tells him that because she has failed in her mission, she must now pay the price. Turning her blasts of hellfire back on herself, Linda lights herself afire and falls to the canyon floor. Johnny turns away, unable to watch the girl's death. He rides away just as the sun comes up, transforming him back to his normal self.

Marvel Spotlight (1972) # 10

"The Coming of...Witch-Woman!"

Cover Date: June 1973

On Sale Date: March 1973

Writer: Gary Friedrich

Artist: Tom Sutton
Inker: Jim Mooney
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: Stan G.
Editor: Roy Thomas

Cover Artist: Rich Buckler

The Ghost Rider races through the Arizona desert with the comatose Roxanne Simpson in his arms, desperate to get her to a hospital before the snake venom in her system kills her. Back at the Apache reservation, Snake Dance's followers turn against him, finally realizing that he's nothing but a charlatan. Sam Silvercloud strings the old medicine man up to a tree, preparing to hang him, but the men are stopped by several rifle shots. They turn to see a young woman, Linda Littletrees, Snake Dance's daughter returned from college. Linda unties her father and convinces all the men to return to the reservation.

Meanwhile, Blaze races through the nearest city, the welfare of his girlfriend the only thing concerning him. He roars through the emergency room doors of the local hospital and demands a doctor to save Roxanne. After a little persuasion of the hellfire variety, the doctor agrees to help. After a quick examination, however, the doctor tells Johnny that she will still die, because the hospital has run out of snake bite serum. Back at the reservation, Linda is appalled that her father almost killed a girl because of superstitions. Snake Dance assures his daughter that Roxanne WILL die, because he knows the white men have no serum. He shows that he has the only vial of the serum, but accidentally allows Linda to take it from him. The young girl runs out the door and hops on her motorcycle, praying to an unseen "master" that she reaches Roxanne in time.

At the hospital, the doctor tells Blaze that the only thing they can do is a complete blood transfusion, but it would be very dangerous and she may not live through the procedure. The Ghost Rider tells the doctor to do what he must, and walks out of the hospital. Johnny rides his bike away from the motorcycle, just missing the arrival of Linda with the serum. The police catch sight of the speeding Blaze and follow in pursuit. Linda, meanwhile, gets the serum to the doctor in the nick of time, saving Roxanne's life. The doctor tells Linda the girl's name, and it rings strangely familiar to the Apache.

Johnny is chased by two motorcycle cops, which he tries to stop with a few blasts of hellfire. The cops continue their chase, until Blaze manages to trap them behind a wall of flame. The police radio in an all-points bulletin on the Ghost Rider as he rides away. Elsewhere, Linda recalls why she recognized Roxanne's name. When she was a little girl, she was rescued from being run over by a motorcycle cop named Officer Crash Simpson, who she had heard started a motorcycle show a few years later. She goes back and talks to the doctor, who tells her that Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider, was the one that brought Roxanne to the hospital. Linda, thinking it ironic that the man her master sent her to kill is involved with the daughter of the man that once saved her life, walks outside the hospital in time to see Blaze speed by, several police cars on his tail. Realizing that she must rescue Johnny from the police so she can kill him herself, Linda jumps on her bike and gives chase. She easily passes the police cars, and takes a shortcut to a set of Indian cave ruins. Johnny is surprised when a police helicopter cuts off his escape route, but then a shimmering portal opens in front of him. The next thing Johnny knows, he's standing before the costumed Linda Littletrees, who refers to herself as...the Witch Woman!

Marvel Spotlight (1972) # 9

"The Snakes Crawl At Night"

Cover Date: April 1973; On Sale Date: January 1973

Writer: Gary Friedrich; Artist: Tom Sutton; Inker: Chic Stone; Letterer: Shelly Leferman; Editor: Roy Thomas; Cover Artist: Mike Ploog

After fleeing from the Apache known as Snake Dance by attempting to jump over a gorge, Johnny Blaze finds that his bike has been sabotaged when it explodes in mid-air, leaving him to fall to his death in the canyon. The Ghost Rider hits the rocks at the canyon base, and Snake Dance revels in his triumph, believing Blaze to be dead. Meanwhile, back at the rodeo where Johnny is to perform his cycle act, the foreman comments that Blaze has disappeared. Roxanne believes that he must have ridden out the canyon, so the foreman tells Sam Silvercloud to give her a ride there as well. On the way to the canyon, Silvercloud (the one responsible for sabotaging Johnny's bike) tells Roxanne that the land is rightfully owned by the Apaches, and that they will soon reclaim it from the white man. They arrive at Copperhead Canyon, where Silvercloud tells Roxanne that Blaze is dead. He then kidnaps the young woman and takes her to the nearby Indian reservation.

The next morning, the rodeo manager is upset because both Johnny and Roxanne are now nowhere to be found. At that moment, Bart Slade, the cycle show's road manager, enters the room dressed in cycle leathers and says that if Blaze doesn't show, he's more than ready to fill in for him. Hours later, Johnny, now in his human form, awakens on the canyon floor, astonished that he's still alive after the fall. Suddenly, Satan appears before the stunt rider and tells him that he's responsible for Johnny surviving the crash. He tells Blaze that if he died by the hand of another mortal, he would be unable to capture his soul. Therefore, whenever Blaze's life is in danger, Satan will extend protection over him, until he himself has a chance to take his life. The devil disappears, leaving Johnny alone on the canyon floor. Luckily, a helicopter passes overhead and airlifts Johnny out. Meanwhile, at the Indian reservation, Silvercloud presents Roxanne to Snake Dance, who decides that they shall sacrifice her to the Snake-God as a bride. The witch doctor then returns to his home, where he states to himself that the entire snake ceremony and belief system is a charade, perpetrated to save his people from starvation and poverty.

Blaze arrives at the rodeo just in time, barely making it to his dressing room before nightfall triggers his transformation into the Ghost Rider. He runs out to do his act, and is surprised to find Slade ready to do the stunts himself. Because Bart is a cripple with a bum leg, Johnny stops him from doing the act, but only manages to anger his former friend even more. Blaze continues and starts the stunt show, stunning the audience with his cycle mastery. During one stunt, however, he loses his concentration and crashes his bike into a wall. The Ghost Rider emerges unscathed, but quickly spots Sam Silvercloud standing on the sidelines. He chases the saboteur down and forces him to give up Roxanne's location.

At the reservation, Snake Dance and his men perform the Snake-God ritual, with Roxanne tied to a serpent-shaped stake. Snake Dance tells her that she must prove herself worthy by enduring deadly snake venom, and that only ones who are chosen by the Snake-God can survive. Two snakes shoot out from the shaman's arms, biting Roxanne on each wrist. Snake Dance, knowing all too well that the venom will kill Roxanne, continues his sham by saying that the gods are angry with the Apaches, and that the only way to appease them is to rise up against the white man as an army. At that moment, the Ghost Rider roars onto the scene, quickly dispatching Snake Dance's followers with his hellfire. He unties Roxanne from the stake, but realizes that he must get her to a hospital before she dies. He turns to the Apaches one last time and tells them that Snake Dance is a charlatan, and that they shall never again threaten innocent people. He rides off on his motorcycle, vowing that if Roxanne dies, he shall return to exact vengeance.